PEOPLE AND

CORRUPTION:
AFRICA SURVEY
2015
Global Corruption Barometer
Transparency International is a global movement with one vision:
a world in which government, business, civil society and the daily
lives of people are free of corruption. With more than 100 chapters
worldwide and an international secretariat in Berlin, we are leading
the fight against corruption to turn this vision into reality.

www.transparency.org

Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude

surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions, and related issues across more than
30 countries in Africa.

Afrobarometer surveys are implemented by national partners in surveyed countries, with

coordination by the Center for Democratic Development (CDD) in Ghana, the Institute for
Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) in South Africa, the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) at
the University of Nairobi in Kenya, and the Institute for Empirical Research in Political Economy
(IREEP) in Benin. Michigan State University (MSU) and the University of Cape Town (UCT) provide
technical support to the network.

Afrobarometer publications from six survey rounds (1999-2015) are available at www.
afrobarometer.org. To explore data on any survey question from any round, please visit
Afrobarometers online data analysis facility at www.afrobarometer.org/online-data-analysis.

Author: Coralie Pring, Research Coordinator, Global Surveys

ISBN: 978-3-943497-93-9
2015 Transparency International. All rights reserved.

Printed on 100% recycled paper.

Infographic design: Sophie Everett
Cover photo: iStock/Peeter Viisimaa

Every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained in this report.
All information was believed to be correct as of November 2015. Nevertheless, Transparency
International cannot accept responsibility for the consequences of its use for other purposes or
inDonor
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contexts.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 2
KEY FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................................ 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 2
RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 4
KEY FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................................ 3
THE STATE OF CORRUPTION
RECOMMENDATIONS IN AFRICA CITIZENS VIEWS ............................................................. 4
............................................................................................................................ 5
UP OR DOWN? HOW IS THE LEVEL OF NATIONAL CORRUPTION SEEN AS CHANGING OVER
THE STATE OF CORRUPTION IN AFRICA CITIZENS VIEWS ............................................................. 5
TIME? ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
UP OR DOWN? HOW IS THE LEVEL OF NATIONAL CORRUPTION SEEN AS CHANGING OVER
POLITICIANS, PUBLIC OFFICIALS OR BUSINESS EXECUTIVES WHO IS SEEN AS MOST
TIME? ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
CORRUPT? .............................................................................................................................................. 8
POLITICIANS, PUBLIC OFFICIALS OR BUSINESS EXECUTIVES WHO IS SEEN AS MOST
DOING WELL OR DOING BADLY? HOW AFRICANS RATE THEIR GOVERNMENTS ANTI-
CORRUPT? .............................................................................................................................................. 8
CORRUPTION EFFORTS........................................................................................................................ 9
DOING WELL OR DOING BADLY? HOW AFRICANS RATE THEIR GOVERNMENTS ANTI-
BRIBERY
CORRUPTIONWHATEFFORTS SERVICES DO AFRICANS PAY BRIBES FOR? ...................................................... 12
........................................................................................................................ 9
HOW MANY PEOPLE PAID BRIBES? .................................................................................................. 12
BRIBERY WHAT SERVICES DO AFRICANS PAY BRIBES FOR? ...................................................... 12
WHAT SERVICES ARE AFFECTED BY BRIBERY? ............................................................................. 17
HOW MANY PEOPLE PAID BRIBES? .................................................................................................. 12
PEOPLES ACTIONSARE
WHAT SERVICES HOW AFRICANS
AFFECTED BY WANT
BRIBERY? TO STOP CORRUPTION .......................................... 21
............................................................................. 17
CAN PEOPLE MAKE A DIFFERENCE? ................................................................................................ 21
PEOPLES ACTIONS HOW AFRICANS WANT TO STOP CORRUPTION .......................................... 21
HOW PEOPLE CAN STOP CORRUPTION ........................................................................................... 22
CAN PEOPLE MAKE A DIFFERENCE? ................................................................................................ 21
CONCLUSION
HOW PEOPLE HOW
CAN STOP AFRICAN COUNTRIES
CORRUPTION MEASURE UP .............................................................. 25
........................................................................................... 22
METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................................................
CONCLUSION HOW AFRICAN COUNTRIES MEASURE UP .............................................................. 25 28
CITIZENS CORRUPTION SCORECARD RATINGS ............................................................................ 29
METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 28
QUESTIONNAIRE .....................................................................................................................................
CITIZENS CORRUPTION SCORECARD RATINGS ............................................................................ 32 29
FULL DATA TABLES
QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................................................................ 32
..................................................................................................................................... 35
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FULL .......................................................................................................................... 45
DATA TABLES ................................................................................................................................ 35
END NOTES ..............................................................................................................................................
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 46
.......................................................................................................................... 45
END NOTES .............................................................................................................................................. 46
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In many countries you can pay off police officers to ignore any crime, however
horrific and devastating its just a matter of price. In Zimbabwe a nine-year old
girl was raped on her way to school by a man who infected her with HIV. The
police initially arrested her attacker, but then released him in secret. The reason:
he paid a bribe. At Transparency International we hear stories like this every day.

That is why we publish research on what people say are the biggest sources of corruption in their
lives, so that we can raise awareness of the scale of graft and to drive anti-corruption work to stop it.
For the latest African edition of the Global Corruption Barometer, we partnered with the
Afrobarometer, which spoke to 43,143 respondents across 28 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
between March 2014 and September 2015 to ask them about their experiences and perceptions of
corruption in their country.1

Shockingly, we estimate that nearly 75 million people2 have paid a bribe in the past year some of
these to escape punishment by the police or courts, but many also forced to pay to get access to the
basic services that they desperately need. A majority of Africans3 perceive corruption to be on the
rise and think that their government is failing in its efforts to fight corruption; and many also feel
disempowered as regards to taking action against corruption. In Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia and
Ghanai citizens are the most negative about the scale of corruption in their country.

However, the results also highlight that there are a small number of countries in the region that are
seen as doing quite well in addressing the scourge of corruption where only a few people have to
pay bribes or where citizens feel that they can contribute to stopping corruption. Citizens in
Botswana, Lesotho, Senegal and Burkina Faso tend to have the most positive views compared with
citizens from other countries in the region.

The main finding of this report is that there is a clear disparity between a few strong performing
countries in regard to anti-corruption and the many weak performers on anti-corruption across the
continent. This finding contains both a hopeful message, that addressing corruption is indeed
possible, as well as a disappointing message, as most African countries have failed to make
headway in stemming the tide of corruption. As corruption can be a major hindrance for
development and economic growth, and as it weakens peoples trust in government and the
accountability of public institutions, this report calls on governments to act against the corruption
which exists in their country.

1
The Afrobarometer conducted the survey in 36 countries in total across the Africa region. Only the results from the
following Sub-Saharan African countries are included in this report: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi,
Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote dIvoire, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius,
Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and
Zimbabwe. Results from North African countries will be included in a separate Middle East and North Africa report and
results from three Sub-Saharan African countries Mozambique, Gabon and So Tom and Prncipe had not been
finalised when this report was being published but will be included in subsequent global releases of the results. The
survey was carried out face to face. In each country the survey was sampled and weighted to be nationally
representative of the adult population aged 18+. A full description of the methodology is contained in the annex.
2
This estimate is made based on the approximate total number of adults aged 18+ living in each of the surveyed
countries according to the most recent census or other available population data. See methodology for full details.
3
For the sake of readability, we use the terms Africans or Africa or continent even though the report includes only
Sub-Saharan countries.

2 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
KEY FINDINGS
The main findings of this report are as follows:

1. CORRUPTION SEEN TO BE ON THE RISE

The majority of Africans (58%) say that corruption has increased over the past year. This is
particularly the case in South Africa where more than four-in-five citizens (83%) say they
have seen corruption rise recently.

2. MOST GOVERNMENTS ARE FAILING TO MEET CITIZENS EXPECTATIONS IN

REGARD TO FIGHTING CORRUPTION
There is no government which is rated positively on its anti-corruption efforts by a clear
majority of its citizens. On the contrary, 18 out of 28 governments are seen as fully failing to
address corruption by a large majority.

3. POLICE AND PRIVATE SECTOR PERCEIVED AS MOST CORRUPT

The survey asked how much corruption there was in 10 key institutions and groups in
society. Across the region, the police and business executives are seen to have the highest
levels of corruption. While the police have regularly been rated as highly corrupt, the
strongly negative assessment of business executives is new compared to previous
Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) survey rounds.ii

4. BRIBERY AFFECTS MORE THAN ONE-IN-FIVE AFRICANSiii, AND

DISPROPORTIONALLY AFFECTS THE POOR IN URBAN AREAS
22 per cent of people that have come into contact with a public service in the past 12
months in Sub-Saharan Africa have paid a bribe, but the situation is worst in Liberia where
nearly seven-in-ten paid a bribe. Across the continent, poor people are twice as likely as
rich people to have paid a bribe, and in urban areas they are even more likely to pay
bribes.iv

5. POLICE AND THE COURTS HAVE THE HIGHEST RATE OF BRIBERY

Out of six key public services, people who come into contact with the police and the courts
are the most likely to have paid a bribe. This is consistent with previous Transparency
International surveys and highlights the lack of progress made in addressing bribery in
these two institutions, which are crucial for citizen security and the rule of law.

6. MANY PEOPLE FEEL UNABLE TO CONTRIBUTE TO HELPING FIGHT CORRUPTION

People in the region are divided as to whether ordinary people can make a difference in the
fight against corruption just over half of people think that they can (53 per cent), while 38
per cent think they cannot. Reporting incidences when they occur, or saying no when asked
to pay a bribe, are seen as the most effective things people can do. However, only roughly
one-in-ten people who paid a bribe actually reported it.

7. DESPITE THIS, TURNING BACK CORRUPTION IS POSSIBLE

There are a few countries in which citizens see low levels of corruption in their public
institutions and see corruption as on the wane in their own country. The views of citizens in
Botswana, Lesotho, Senegal and Burkina Faso are particularly favourable.

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 3

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
RECOMMENDATIONS
CORRUPTION SEEN TO BE ON THE RISE

Governments must finally deliver on their anti-corruption commitments made globally (the
UN Convention against Corruption) and regionally (the African Union Convention on
Combating Corruption).
UN Convention signatory countries must actively support and use the results of the next
Convention review cycle, which will look at related policies to prevent corruption and
support asset recovery.
The African Union and its members must provide the political will and financing needed to
implement the review mechanism established for its anti-corruption convention.

MOST GOVERNMENTS ARE FAILING TO MEET CITIZENS EXPECTATIONS IN REGARD TO

FIGHTING CORRUPTION

Governments must end impunity in their countries whether in government, companies or

organisations by effectively investigating and prosecuting cases and eliminating the
abuse of political immunity.
Governments must strengthen and enforce legislation on politically-exposed persons and
anti-money laundering to curb the high volume of illicit flows from the continent.
Governments must end the secrecy around who owns and controls companies and other
arrangements which enable collusion, self-dealing or deception in government processes,
such as procurement.

POLICE AND PRIVATE SECTOR PERCEIVED AS MOST CORRUPT

Governments must show a sustained and deep commitment to acting on police corruption
at all levels by promoting reforms that combine punitive measures with structural changes
over the short- and medium-term.v
Companies need to transparently report their operations, activities and revenues on a
country-by-country basis to build public trust and dispel perceptions of corruption.

BRIBERY AFFECTS MORE THAN ONE-IN-FIVE AFRICANS, AND DISPROPORTIONALLY

AFFECTS THE POOR IN URBAN AREAS

Governments must effectively include anti-corruption measures and metrics as part of

implementing and tracking progress on their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
strategies.

POLICE AND THE COURTS HAVE THE HIGHEST RATE OF BRIBERY

Governments must invest in measures to strengthen access to justice and the rule of law in
their countries, such as ensuring an objective and transparent process for appointing
judges, protections for judicial salaries and working conditions, and clear criteria for case
assignment.

MANY PEOPLE FEEL UNABLE TO CONTRIBUTE TO HELPING FIGHT CORRUPTION

Governments must create safe and effective conditions for the involvement of civil society in
anti-corruption efforts, including their de jure and de facto operational and physical freedom.
Governments must establish right to information and whistle-blower protection legislation to
facilitate the role of civil society in making public institutions more transparent, accountable
and corruption-free.

4 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
THE STATE OF CORRUPTION IN
AFRICA CITIZENS VIEWS
The Global Corruption Barometer seeks to put citizens views front and centre in
the corruption debate, and to make governments aware of what their citizens think
of their actions in regard to fighting corruption. The survey, which was conducted
by the Afrobarometer, found that while many Africans view corruption as being on
the rise in their own country, and believe their government is not doing well in
tackling the issue, there are a small number of countries that are seen to be quite
effective in addressing public sector graft.

UP OR DOWN? HOW IS THE LEVEL OF NATIONAL

CORRUPTION SEEN AS CHANGING OVER TIME?
The survey asked people how they thought corruption in their country had changed over the past
year4 whether it had increased, decreased or stayed the same so that we could identify the
corruption trend across the continent.

Across the region the survey found that the majority of citizens believe that corruption is on the rise.
Over half of people (58 per cent) say that they think corruption has increased either somewhat or a
great deal over the past year in their own country, while just under a quarter (22 per cent) think that
it has decreased, and just 14 per cent think that it has stayed the same.

When comparing the results of the different countries that were surveyed, people living in South
Africa, Ghana and Nigeriavi were the most likely to say that they think corruption has risen in the 12
months prior to when the survey was conducted. In these countries three-quarters or more of
respondents said corruption has increased either somewhat or a lot. The three countries which had
the smallest proportion of citizens saying corruption has risen were Burkina Faso, Cote DIvoire and
Mali less than one-third of respondents answered that corruption has increased in the past 12
months.

4
Respondents were asked has the level of corruption in this country increased, decreased, or stayed the same? in
the 12 months prior to when the respondent took the survey. For a full list of fieldwork dates for each country, please
see the annex.

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 5

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
HOW CITIZENS IN
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
THINK CORRUPTION
HAS CHANGED OVER Cape Verde

THE LAST 12 MONTHS

22% 14% 58%

of people in Africa of people in Africa of people in Africa

think corruption think corruption think corruption
has decreased has stayed the same has increased

3 BEST PERFORMERS 3 WORST PERFORMERS

Lowest percentage saying corruption has increased Highest percentage saying corruption has increased

Burkina Faso 28% South Africa 83%

Mali 31% Ghana 76%

Cote DIvoire 32% Nigeria 75%

 Mali Niger

Senegal

Burkina Faso
Guinea Nigeria
Sierra Leone Cote
dIvoire
Ghana
Liberia

Togo Benin Cameroon

Uganda
Kenya

Burundi

The percentage of people Tanzania

who say corruption has
increased a lot or somewhat
over the past 12 months.

0-20%

Zambia
Malawi
20-40%

Zimbabwe Mauritius
40-60% Namibia
Botswana Madagascar

60-80%

Swaziland
80%+
Lesotho
South Africa

Q: In your opinion, over the past year, has the level of corruption in this country increased, decreased, or stayed the same?
% who say corruption had either increased somewhat or increased a lot.
POLITICIANS, PUBLIC OFFICIALS OR BUSINESS
EXECUTIVES WHO IS SEEN AS MOST CORRUPT?
The survey asked respondents how much corruption there was in 10 different powerful groups in
their country the political and government elite (the presidents office, members of parliament,
government officials), public officials who work at the service level (tax officials, the police, judges
and magistrates, local government councillors), and those who are not part of the public sector but
who often wield strong influence (business executives, religious leaders and traditional leaders).

Looking at the results from across the region, the police are seen as the most corrupt group across
the region, which is consistent with previous editions of the GCB. Almost half of respondents (47 per
cent) say that they thought either most or all police officers are corrupt. The police are followed by
business executives, which are seen as the second most corrupt group (42 per cent say most or all
business executives are corrupt).

Government officials and tax officials rank as the third and fourth most corrupt groups (38 per cent
and 37 per cent respectively). Judges and magistrates, members of parliament, local government
councillors and the office of the presidency all score similarly, with around a third of people saying
they are affected by high levels of corruption (between 31 and 34 per cent).

Traditional leaders and religious leaders are seen to be the least affected by corruption in the region,
although 21 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively, say that most or all of these leaders are corrupt.

FIGURE 1. HOW CORRUPT ARE DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS AND GROUPS IN SOCIETY?

Police 47%

Business executives 42%

Government officials 38%

Tax officials 37%

Judges and magistrates 34%

Members of parliament 33%

Local government councillors 33%

Office of the presidency 31%

Traditional leaders 21%

Religious leaders 15%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Q. How many of the following people do you think are involved in corruption, or havent you heard enough about them
to say? Base: All respondents, excluding missing responses. Chart shows percentage of respondents who answered
either Most or All of them are corrupt.

When looking at the results from each country, large proportions of citizens in Benin, Ghana, Liberia,
Nigeria and Sierra Leone think that their public sector institutions are affected by high levels of

8 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
corruption. In these countries, on average across each of the public sector groups,5 half of the
population or more said that they thought most or all are corrupt.

In contrast, citizens in Botswana, Cape Verde, Lesotho, Mauritius and Senegal perceive there to be
very low levels of corruption in the public sector institutions. On average, less than a quarter of
respondents said that most or all officials in these public sector institutions are corrupt.

Anti-corruption progress in Senegal

Since President Macky Sall came into office in Senegal in 2012 the country has passed a
number of positive anti-corruption reforms, which may have contributed to Senegalese
citizens being among some of the most positive in the region with many saying corruption
is on the decline, and people perceiving low levels of corruption across the public sector.

A Ministry for the Promotion of Good Governance Responsible for Relations with the
Institutions has been created to promote good governance across various government
institutions and in the private sector. A National Office for the Fight against Fraud and
Corruption has also been established.vii Subsequently, in July 2013 the Government
adopted a National Strategy on Good Governance to improve the functioning of
government and to improve transparency.viii A national law was also passed in April 2014
which requires elected officials to declare their assets.ix

More recently, there have been signs of effective enforcement of the law: in March 2015
Karim Wade, former cabinet minister and son of former President Abdoulaye Wade, was
tried and convicted of illicit enrichment and sentenced to six years imprisonment.x

DOING WELL OR DOING BADLY? HOW AFRICANS RATE

THEIR GOVERNMENTS ANTI-CORRUPTION EFFORTS
Understanding how ordinary people think their government is doing in regard to addressing
corruption allows us to assess whether governments are perceived to be making the right steps and
if they are communicating these efforts effectively to their citizens.

Across the region the majority of people (64 per cent) think their government is doing a poor job at
handling corruption, suggesting greater efforts need to be taken by governments to clean up the
public sector and to punish officials for their corrupt actions. Only a third of people (32 per cent) think
that their government was doing either fairly or very well at fighting corruption.

Looking specifically at the country-level results, few governments were rated as doing particularly
well at cleaning up government. In only three countries did a slightly greater proportion of citizens

5
The public sector groups refer to the presidents office, members of parliament, government officials, tax officials, the
police, judges and magistrates and local government councillors. We took a simple average across these seven
institutions of the percentage of respondents who said most or all of them are corrupt. See the full tables of results in
the annex.

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 9

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
say that their government was doing well than said they were doing badly Botswana, Lesotho and
Senegal. 6

Many governments received very poor ratings on their achievements in stopping corruption but
citizens in Madagascar were the most critical, with nine-in-ten (90 per cent) saying their government
is doing either fairly or very badly. This result may in part be due to the revelation that as much as
40 per cent of the country's budget is lost to corruption.xi In Benin, Liberia, Nigeria, South Africa and
Zimbabwe people think poorly of their governments anti-corruption efforts with around four-in-five
saying that their government is doing badly.

6
In Botswana 54% answered well, 42% badly; Lesotho 47% well, 41% badly; Senegal 47% well, 46% badly

10 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
FIGURE 2: IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING WELL OR BADLY IN FIGHTING CORRUPTION

Badly Well

Madagascar 90% 9%
Liberia 81% 18%
Zimbabwe 80% 17%
Benin 79% 19%
South Africa 79% 20%
Nigeria 78% 22%
Ghana 71% 25%
Mauritius 71% 25%
Kenya 70% 27%
Malawi 69% 28%
Sierra Leone 69% 19%
Uganda 69% 26%
Burundi 68% 29%
Namibia 65% 34%
Zambia 62% 32%
Cape Verde 61% 23%
Guinea 61% 33%
Togo 61% 31%
Tanzania 58% 37%
Cameroon 57% 37%
Mali 56% 43%
Cote d'Ivoire 53% 44%
Burkina Faso 49% 45%
Swaziland 48% 48%
Niger 47% 46%
Senegal 46% 47%
Botswana 42% 54%
Lesotho 41% 47%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Q. How well or badly would you say the current government is handling the following matters, or havent you heard
enough to say? Fighting corruption in government. Base: all respondents, excluding missing responses.

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 11

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
BRIBERY WHAT SERVICES DO
AFRICANS PAY BRIBES FOR?
Through their contact with public services citizens are being exposed to corruption
risks in their daily lives. Nearly 75 million people across the region are estimated to
have paid a bribe during the last 12 months but in some countries bribery is far
more rampant than in others. Unfortunately it is those who are meant to be
upholding the law the police and courts who seem to be the most likely to be
involved in bribery, and those who are the poorest in society who are the most
likely to have to pay.

HOW MANY PEOPLE PAID BRIBES?

The survey asked people whether they had come into contact with six key public services public
schools, public healthcare, the police, courts, for official documents or for utilities in the previous
12 months. For those who had come into contact with these services, they were asked whether they
had paid a bribe, given a gift or provided a favour in order to get the services they needed.7

The results show that while there is a big problem with bribery in the region, it is not an endemic
feature across the continent, with a small number of countries reporting very low rates of bribery.8

Across the region 22 per cent of people who came into contact with at least one of the six public
services in the past 12 months admitted that they paid a bribe. When extrapolating the proportion of
bribe payers in each of the surveyed countries to their entire adult population, this suggests that
nearly 75 million Africans have paid a bribe. Many people pay bribes on numerous occasions for
their public services, making this practice even more of a burden on citizens: the majority of bribe-
payers (62 per cent) told us that they have paid bribes multiple times over the past year, either for
the same public service or for different services.

However, the risk of having to pay a bribe varies tremendously by country. Liberia has by far the
highest rate of bribery of the countries that were surveyed, with 69 per cent of people who came into
contact with at least one of these six services having paid a bribe in the past year. This is followed

7
The overall contact rates for each service were: public schools 42%, public healthcare 63%, the police 22%, courts
11%, for official documents 45% and for utilities 21%. 78% of the respondents said that they had come into contact with
at least one of the six services. Bribery rates are based on those who had come into contact with at least one of the six
services, excluding those who have missing data for all six bribery questions (weighted n= 26,310).
8
For the sake of readability we use the term bribe to refer to those who said that they paid a bribe, gave a gift or did a
favour for a public service. It is important to note that questionnaire changes for the Global Corruption Barometer
bribery question means that the results for previous Global Corruption Barometer surveys cannot be compared with the
findings presented here. The question was changed from asking about household to individual bribe payments, and
from any service provider to only services provided by the government. Afrobarometer question wording has also
changed to more carefully screen for contact before asking about bribe payments, so the results should also not be
compared with previous rounds of the Afrobarometer.

12 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
by Cameroon, Nigeria and Sierra Leone which were found to have high bribery rates of between 41
and 48 per cent. Cote dIvoire, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya and Uganda also have bribery rates that are
far higher than the regional average.

Botswana, Mauritius and Cape Verde have the lowest bribery rates in the region, being on a par with
low bribery rate countries on other continents (such as in Europe or the USA).xii Lesotho, Senegal,
Swaziland, Namibia and South Africa also have bribery rates that are far lower than the average for
the region with less than one-in-ten saying that they paid a bribe. This demonstrates that in a
sizeable number of African countries, governments, the public sector and often also vigilant citizens
have been able to successfully prevent this problem from significantly affecting public services on an
endemic scale. Learning from these countries experiences of tackling bribery is key for developing
effective anti-bribery approaches that are suitable for the African region.

Corruption and the Ebola crisis

From March 2014 to November 2015, around 11,300 people have died from the Ebola
outbreak.xiii The West African countries Liberia and Sierra Leone were the worst hit. With
studies showing that corruption contributed to the slow and weak government responses to
the crisis, tackling the rampant corruption should be considered a priority, to ensure that
services can better handle such crises in the future.

The survey found that in both of these countries there are very high bribery rates and the
public sector is perceived to be affected by extensive levels of corruption compared with
many other countries in the region. High levels of corruption may have hampered these
countries responses to the Ebola crisis by illicitly diverting resources away from essential
healthcare services in the years preceding the crisis. Relief funds which were dispersed to
halt the spread of Ebola may also have been mismanaged, as found in an internal audit
report released by the Sierra Leonean Auditor General in February 2015.xiv

There have also been some claims that Liberians were so distrustful of their government
that they believed reports about Ebola had been fabricated to enable government
employees to enrich themselves from aid from foreign donors and to embezzle funds from
the World Health Organisation. This may have caused critical delays in the first response to
the crisis.xv

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 13

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
FIGURE 3. HOW MANY PUBLIC SERVICE USERS PAID A BRIBE IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS?

Liberia 69%
Cameroon 48%
Nigeria 43%
Sierra Leone 41%
Uganda 38%
Kenya 37%
Ghana 36%
Guinea 35%
Cote d'Ivoire 34%
Benin 26%
Togo 26%
Tanzania 25%
Regional average 22%
Zimbabwe 22%
Mali 18%
Zambia 17%
Madagascar 16%
Burundi 14%
Malawi 13%
Burkina Faso 11%
Niger 10%
Swaziland 9%
Senegal 8%
Namibia 7%
South Africa 7%
Lesotho 5%
Cape Verde 2%
[VALUE]
Botswana 1%
[VALUE]
Mauritius 1%
[VALUE]
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Q. And how often, if ever, did you have to pay a bribe, give a gift, or provide a favour for A. A teacher or school official?
B. A health worker or clinic or hospital staff? C. A government official in order to get the document? D. A government
official in order to receive the [utilities] services? E. A police officer? F. A judge or court official? Base for the total
bribery rate: respondents who had contact with at least one of the six public services in the past 12 months, excluding
those who have missing information for all six bribery questions. The percentages presented are for those who said
that they had paid a bribe at least once to at least one of the six services.

The following infographic summarises the key socio-demographic results of bribe payers. Those
who have not come into contract with any of the six public services has been excluded from the
analysis.

14 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
WHO HAS TO PAY BRIBES?

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, in the past 12

months, 22% of public service users have
paid a bribe, which is equivalent to nearly
75 million people.

YOUNG VS. OLD

People younger than 55 years

are more likely to pay a bribe 23% 13%
for public services.
OF PEOPLE OF PEOPLE
AGED UNDER 55 AGED 55+

MALE VS FEMALE

57% OF 43% OF Males make up the

BRIBE PAYERS BRIBE PAYERS
ARE MALE ARE FEMALE majority of bribe payers.

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 15

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
URBAN VS RURAL

Urban residents are more likely to have bribed:

Public service users who live in cities and towns tend to be
slightly more likely than rural residents to have paid a bribe.

RURAL URBAN

26%
20%

BRIBERY AFFECTS THE POOREST MOST

The poorest Africans are hit hardest by bribery:

They are twice as likely as the most affluent in the region
to have paid a bribe in the past 12 months.
PAID A BRIBE POVERTY LEVELS

None

Low

20% 24% 28% Moderate

14%
High

1 IN 4 OF THE POOREST PEOPLE LIV- THIS ALMOST DOUBLES IN URBAN AREAS, WITH
ING IN RURAL AREAS NEARLY 2 IN 5 OF THE POOREST PEOPLE LIVING
HAD TO PAY A BRIBE. IN CITIES AND TOWN HAVING PAID A BRIBE.

RICHEST 14% RICHEST 15%

POOREST
24% POOREST
39%

16 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
WHAT SERVICES ARE AFFECTED BY BRIBERY?
Transparency International wanted to find out which of the six key public services are particularly
affected by bribery.9 As the services have different levels of usage (ranging from just 11 per cent of
Africans coming into contact with the courts, up to 63 per cent for public hospitals),10 the results are
based only on the responses of those who have come into contact with each service. This allows us
to find out which service puts users at most risk of paying a bribe.

The survey finds a large difference in the reported bribery rates for the various public services.
Bribery is most rampant in the courts and police force, with over a quarter of those who come into
contact with each of these services saying that they had paid a bribe (28 and 27 per cent
respectively).

When coming into contact with utilities services provided by the government (such as water and
electricity) or when asking for official documents (such as ID cards and permits), nearly one-in-five
Africans paid bribes (19 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively).

Schools and healthcare have the lowest bribery rates of the six services, although over one-in-ten
(13 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively) of the people who came into contact with these services
paid a bribe which demonstrates that this is still an unacceptable burden on many people in the
region who use these essential services.

Many users of these key public services are burdened by having to pay multiple bribes every year,
rather than just once or twice. This is especially the case for those who come into contact with public
hospitals, public utilities, police and courts nearly half or more of the bribe-payers for these
services had to pay multiple times.

9
The bribery results are for people who came into contact with the services provided by the government, and do not
account for bribes paid for private sector providers of services such as education, healthcare or utilities.
10
For full details of the contact rate per service and by country see the annex.

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 17

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
FIGURE 4. SERVICE USERS WHO SAID THAT THEY HAD PAID A BRIBE

Once or twice A few times Often

50%

40%

30%
6% 6%
20%
8% 7% 4% 2%
6% 4% 2%
10% 3% 2%
14% 14% 3%
9% 11%
8% 6%
0%
Courts Police Household Document or Public Public clinic
services permit school or hospital
services

Q. And how often, if ever, did you have to pay a bribe, give a gift, or provide a favour for A. A teacher or school official;
B. A health worker or clinic or hospital staff; C. A government official in order to get a document; D. A government
official in order to receive the [utilities] services; E. A police officer; F. A judge or court official? Base: Respondents who
had contact with each service in the past 12 months, excluding missing responses.

The following infographic shows the bribery rates for each service by country, which makes it
possible to identify which services in a specific country have done well at preventing bribery and
which are doing poorly. The larger the circle, the higher the bribery rate for that service.

Looking at the country-level bribery rates for the different services, the results show that all six
services are comparatively clean in Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Lesotho, Mauritius,
Namibia, Niger, Senegal and Swaziland, when compared with the regional averages. On the other
hand, bribery is reported as rampant across all of the public services in Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea,
Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, where all the services have much higher bribery rates than the
regional average.

18 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
WHAT SERVICES DO
PEOPLE PAY BRIBES FOR?
Bribery rate by service; percentage
of service users who paid a bribe
in the past 12 months.
The size of the circle corresponds to
the proportion of service users who
paid a bribe. 0% 1-15% 16-30% 31-45% 46-60% 61%+

PUBLIC PUBLIC ID, VOTERS

COUNTRY UTILITIES POLICE COURTS
SCHOOL HOSPITAL CARD, PERMIT

Regional aver-
age

Benin

Botswana

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Cape Verde

Cote dIvoire

Ghana

Guinea

Kenya

Lesotho

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 19

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
 PUBLIC PUBLIC ID, VOTERS
COUNTRY UTILITIES POLICE COURTS
SCHOOL HOSPITAL CARD, PERMIT

Liberia

Madagascar

Malawi

Mali

Mauritius

Namibia

Niger

Nigeria

Senegal

Sierra Leone

South Africa

Swaziland

Tanzania

Togo

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Q. And how often, if ever, did you have to pay a bribe, give a gift, or do a favour for A. A teacher or school official?; B. A health
worker or clinic or hospital staff; C. A government official in order to get the document?; D. A government official in order to
get the [Utilities] services?; E. A police officer?; F. A judge or court official?. Base: Respondents who had contact with each
service in the past 12 months, excluding missing responses. An asterisk (*) denotes a service which had a base size of less
than 60 respondents. These results are not shown as there are too few respondents to be considered statistically reliable.
20 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
PEOPLES ACTIONS HOW
AFRICANS WANT TO STOP
CORRUPTION
Citizens should be able to play an important role in turning the tide against
corruption either through reporting corruption when they see it, refusing to pay
bribes, or demanding governments take action against the corruption that they see
in their country. The survey asked people across Africa whether they think that
ordinary people can indeed make a difference, and in what ways they can be most
effective at preventing graft.

CAN PEOPLE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Generally speaking, people are divided about the issue of whether or not ordinary people can make
a difference in fighting corruption in their country. While just over half (53 per cent) answered in the
affirmative, almost two-in-five (38 per cent) feel disempowered.

Citizens feel particularly effective as potential anti-corruption fighters in Botswana and Madagascar.
In these countries 70 per cent of more say that they think that ordinary people can make a
difference. The result from Madagascar is particularly interesting given that its citizens were the
most critical of their governments anti-corruption performance, which suggests that although the
public perceive the authorities to be not doing enough, they still feel that they themselves could have
an impact.

The public in Nigeria and Sierra Leone feel the least empowered to help fight corruption in their own
countries, with less than two-in-five people agreeing that they can make a difference. People in
Benin, Liberia, Niger and Zimbabwe are also very pessimistic.

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 21

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
FIGURE 5. CAN ORDINARY PEOPLE MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST
CORRUPTION?

Strongly agree Agree

Botswana 72%
Madagascar 70%
Namibia 69%
Malawi 64%
Burkina Faso 61%
Lesotho 60%
Swaziland 59%
Kenya 58%
Cameroon 56%
Mauritius 56%
South Africa 56%
Cape Verde 55%
Cote d'Ivoire 55%
Tanzania 55%
Burundi 54%
Ghana 53%
Togo 53%
Zambia 53%
Mali 50%
Senegal 49%
Uganda 47%
Guinea 46%
Liberia 43%
Benin 42%
Niger 42%
Zimbabwe 42%
Nigeria 39%
Sierra Leone 32%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Q. Please tell me whether you agree or disagree with the following statement: ordinary people can make a difference in
the fight against corruption? Base: All respondents, excluding missing responses. Dont know, refused and neither
answers are not displayed, for ease of comparison.

HOW PEOPLE CAN STOP CORRUPTION

The survey also asked respondents what they think would be the most effective action that people
can take in fighting corruption in their own country.

Across the region, people generally think that reporting corruption incidents is the most effective
action that people can take to tackle corruption (28 per cent). The second most popular action is to
refuse to pay bribes, which 21 per cent of people say is the most effective action to take. All other
actions were named by 5 per cent or fewer people.

22 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
Worryingly, almost a quarter of people (23 per cent) were pessimistic about the role people can play
in their country in fighting corruption, saying that they thought there was nothing that they could do.

Despite the fact that reporting corruption is seen by citizens as the most effective anti-corruption
action, among those who have actually paid a bribe (see previous section), only one-in-ten bribe-
payers (12 per cent) said that s/he reported it. While this is a start, it indicates that much more
should be done to encourage people to step forward to report graft when they experience it.

To find out what lies behind these low levels of citizen reporting, the survey asked Africans what
they think is the main reason why people do not report corruption incidents. The top reasons given
were: people are afraid of the consequences (35 per cent) and that it would not make a difference
(14 per cent). Reasons indicating a lack of knowledge about how or where to report were collectively
mentioned by more than one-in-ten (13 per cent), but reasons regarding lacking resources in terms
of time or money were seen as much less relevant. Therefore, resources should be focused on
protecting those who report corruption, making existing reporting mechanisms more effective, and
awareness raising about how and where to report.

FIGURE 6. WHY PEOPLE DO NOT REPORT INCIDENCES OF CORRUPTION

Afraid of the consequences 35%

It wouldn't make a difference 14%

Corruption is normal 7%

Don't know where to report 7%

The officials are also corrupt 6%

Don't know how to report 6%

Most people do report 4%

Too difficult to prove 3%

They would implicate themselves 3%

Don't have enough time 3%

It's too expensive to report 2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Q. Some people say that many incidents of corruption are never reported. Based on your experience, what do you
think is the main reason why many people do not report corruption when it occurs? Base: all respondents, excluding
missing responses. Other, Dont know and refused responses not shown.

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 23

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
 Reporting corruption in Madagascar
In 2010 Transparency International Initiative Madagascar set up an anti-corruption legal
advice centre to provide free support to witnesses and victims of corruption. The Centre
works closely with municipal governments, and in one municipality they have helped to
hold to account a corrupt official who was supporting illegal logging practices.xvi

In this case a local committee initially used official reporting mechanisms to inform a forest
ranger and the police that trees were being felled in the area to make charcoal without the
proper permits a practice that had cause a local spring to dry up, leaving five local
villages without their main source of drinking water. However, the charcoal that was seized
as evidence for the case disappeared.

The committee then turned to the anti-corruption legal advice centre, which helped support
them in filing a complaint with the ministry of forestry. The forest ranger was dismissed as a
result.

24 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
CONCLUSION HOW AFRICAN
COUNTRIES MEASURE UP
This report has presented the findings from the latest edition of the GCB in Africa. Transparency
International partnered with the Afrobarometer, who spoke to 43,143 people in 28 countries across
the Sub-Saharan African region to understand public experiences and perceptions of corruption, and
to put the views of ordinary people at the centre of corruption debates.

Overall, the results present a bleak picture, with many Africans critical about the state of corruption
in their country. Looking at the corruption scorecard on the next page, only a very few countries are
rated green (positive) on any of the measures. Citizens across the continent clearly differ in how
serious they deem the extent of the corruption challenge to be, with those in Botswana, Lesotho,
Senegal and Burkina Faso giving more positive responses about the state of corruption in their
country, while those in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia, and Ghana hold deeply negative views. In
between these two extremes other countries are experiencing specific corruption challenges, such
as high prevalence of bribery (for example in Cameroon or Cote dIvoire) or extremely negative
assessments of the governments anti-corruption efforts (for example in Benin, Madagascar, South
Africa and Zimbabwe).

Across Africa the survey showed that it is the poorest people who are hardest hit by corruption as
they are almost twice as likely to pay a bribe compared with more affluent Africans. Public sector
graft presents an unacceptable burden for people who are already struggling to afford basic
necessities like putting food on the table or accessing medical care. Transparency International
thinks that tackling corruption and reducing poverty go hand in hand, and wants governments across
the region, and in other parts of the world, to include accurate anti-corruption measures and metrics
as part of implementing and tracking progress on their SDGs strategies.

The region faces a serious dilemma in ridding itself of graft, because while people told us that
reporting incidents of bribery is one of the best ways to stop corruption from happening, they also
told us that many people do not report bribery because they are scared of suffering retribution and
think reporting mechanisms are ineffective. In order to effectively prevent corruption in the region
greater efforts need to be made to protect whistleblowers from retribution, improve the effectiveness
of reporting channels, and educate people about how and where they can report corruption.
Transparency Internationals Advocacy and Legal Advice Centres can play an important role in
providing safe ways to bring the corrupt to justice.

The survey also demonstrated that many people are pessimistic about whether ordinary people can
make a difference. The survey comes at a time when many countries in the region have seen a
shrinking of the space in which civil society can operate and hold governments to account. It is
essential that governments create safe conditions for the effective involvement of civil society in anti-
corruption activities, and governments need to guarantee the operational and physical freedom of
such organisations. Future editions of the survey will monitor how public attitudes respond to
government efforts in improving their transparency and accountability to citizens.

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 25

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
OVERVIEW OF CORRUPTION IN
AFRICA A CITIZEN SCORECARD
How is the Do people feel
How has the level of cor- How corrupt is the How many people
COUNTRY ruption changed? public sector?
government doing at
paid a bribe?
empowered to
fighting corruption? fight corruption?

Botswana

Lesotho

Senegal

Burkina Faso

Cape Verde

Mali

Namibia

Niger

Cote dIvoire

Mauritius

Swaziland

Togo

Burundi

Cameroon

26 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
The anti-corruption performance This infographic summarises the country results for five key corruption
of the government and the questions which were presented in this report. For each question, countries
countrys corruption risks are were categorised as either red, amber or green depending on how positively
rated by citizens as:
or negatively respondents from that country responded to the questions in the
survey. Countries are ordered from those who scored the best according to their
Negative/High citizens to those who scored the worst. See the methodology note for the full
description of how the colours are assigned.
Mediocre/Medium These groupings are meant to be indicative, and regionally contextual. It is
important to keep in mind that they are based on the subjective perceptions and
Positive/Low experiences of citizens in each country rather than on an assessment against a
common objective benchmark.

How is the Do people feel

How has the level of cor- How corrupt is the How many people
COUNTRY ruption changed? public sector?
government doing at
paid a bribe?
empowered to
fighting corruption? fight corruption?

Guinea

Madagascar

Malawi

South Africa

Tanzania

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Benin

Kenya

Uganda

Ghana

Liberia

Nigeria

Sierra Leone

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 27

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
METHODOLOGY
This edition of the Global Corruption Barometer question module was implemented in Africa by the
Afrobarometer network as part of its Round 6 surveys, in collaboration with Transparency
International. All fieldwork was completed using a face to face survey methodology. The survey
samples were selected and weighted to be nationally representative of all adults aged 18+ living in
each country, and all interviews were conducted face-to-face in the language of the respondents
choice. The results have margins of sampling error of +/-2 per cent (for a sample of 2,400) or +/-3
per cent (for a sample of 1,200) at a 95 per cent confidence level.

The results presented in this report were also weighted so that the sample sizes for each country
are equal. The overall regional results are equivalent to an average of all 28 countries surveyed.

ESTIMATED
SURVEYING START END SAMPLE
COUNTRY POPULATION
ORGANISATION FIELDWORK FIELDWORK SIZE
AGED 18+
Institute for Empirical
Benin Research in Political 25.05.2014 09.06.2014 1200 4,680,953
Economy (IREEP)
Botswana Star Awards (Pty) Ltd 28.06.14 12.07.14 1200 1,329,243*
Centre for the
Burkina Faso Democratic Governance 20.04.15 05.05.15 1200 8,123,837
(CDG)
Groupe de Recherche
et dAppui aux Initiatives
Burundi 29.09.14 10.10.14 1200 5,219,782*
5,217,165*
Democratiques
(GRADIS)
Centre dEtudes et de
Recherche en
Cameroon Economie et Gestion 24.01.15 08.02.15 1182 12,189,966*
(CEREG) Universit de
Yaounde II
Cape Verde Afro-Sondagem 22.11.14 05.12.14 1200 272,495
Centre de Recherche et
de Formation sur le
Cote dIvoire 26.08.14 08.09.14 1199 12,992,917*
Dveloppement Intgr
(CREFDI)
Ghana Center for
Ghana Democratic 20.05.14 10.07.14 2400 13,632,299
Development (CDD)
DG Stat View
Guinea 16.03.15 05.04.15 1200 5,981,040
International
Institute for
Development Studies
Kenya 12.11.14 05.12.14 2397 19,312,705
(IDS), University of
Nairobi

28 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
 Lesotho Advision Lesotho 05.05.14 31.05.14 1200 1,102,787
Practical Sampling
Liberia 06.05.15 22.05.15 1199 2,084,804
International (PSI)
Madagascar COEF Resources 12.12.14 13.01.15 1200 9,899,442
Centre for Social
Malawi Research (CSR), 01.03.14 27.04.14 2400 7,840,886
University of Malawi
Groupe de Recherche
Mali en conomie Applique 01.12.14 14.12.14 1200 6,837,482
et Thorique (GREAT)
StraConsult Ltd with
Mauritius 27.06.14 21.07.14 1200 921,007
Statistics Mauritius
Survey Warehouse,
Namibia Institute for Public 27.08.14 22.09.14 1200 1,202,996
Policy Research
Laboratoire dEtudes et
de Recherches sur les
Niger Dynamiques Sociales et 01.04.15 18.04.15 1200 8,093,721*
le Dveloppement Local
(LASDEL)
Practical Sampling
Nigeria International (PSI), 05.12.14 19.01.15 2400 93,911,479
CLEEN Foundation
Carrefour dEtudes et
de Recherches-Action
Senegal pour la Dmocratie et le 22.11.14 08.12.14 1200 7,228,616*
Dveloppement
(CERADD)
Campaign for Good
Sierra Leone 22.05.15 10.06.15 1191 3,112,280
Governance, ITASCAP
South Africa Plus 94 13.08.15 21.09.15 2390 30,588,864

Swaziland ActivQuest 21.04.15 11.05.15 1200 823,026*

REPOA Policy
Tanzania Research for 26.08.14 19.10.14 2386 22,430,900
Development
Center for Research
Togo and Opinion Polls 12.10.14 24.10.14 1200 3,562,951
(CROP)
Uganda Hatchile Consult Ltd 07.05.15 26.05.15 2400 16,764,648*
RuralNet Associates
Zambia 03.10.14 30.10.14 1199 6,222,313
Ltd.
Mass Public Opinion
Zimbabwe 16.11.14 29.11.14 2400 6,777,792
Institute

An asterisk denotes countries where the available census data does not show the precise number of
people aged 18+. In these countries, an estimate was made using other available population data.

To calculate the total number of bribe payers in Sub Saharan Africa, we used the country level
bribery rates (the percentage of all adults in the country who had paid a bribe) to calculate the

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 29

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
number of bribe payers in each country. We then added the projected number of bribe payers across
all 28 countries, which gave a total number of 74,634,897. For ease of reporting we have rounded
this figure to 75 million for the purposes of this report.

CITIZENS CORRUPTION SCORECARD RATINGS

1. Change in level of corruption over past 12 months

The scores are based on the percentage of respondents in each country who said that corruption
had either increased a little or increased a lot over the 12 months prior to when the survey was
conducted.

Green Less than 40% said corruption had increased either somewhat or a lot in the past
12 months
Amber From 40% up to 60% said corruption had increased either somewhat or a lot in the
past 12 months
Red 60% or more said corruption had increased either somewhat or a lot in the past 12
months

2. How corrupt public officials are perceived to be

Each countrys score is based on a simple average of the percentage of the population who said
that Most of them or All of them are corrupt for each of the public sector groups - the Presidents
Office, Members of Parliament, government officials, tax officials, the police, judges and
magistrates, and local government councillors. Business executives, religious and traditional leaders
were not included as they do not reflect corruption in the public sector.

Green Less than 30% on average across the 7 groups

Amber From 30% up to 50% on average across the 7 groups
Red 50% or more on average across the 7 groups

3. How is Government handling fighting corruption

The scores are based on the percentage of respondents in each country who rated their government
as doing either Very badly or Fairly badly at fighting corruption in government.

Green Less than 40% rated the government very or fairly badly
Amber From 40% up to 60% rated the government very or fairly badly
Red 60% or more rated the government very or fairly badly

4. Bribery rate

The scores are based on the percentage of people who said that they paid a bribe to at least one of
the six services mentioned in the past 12 months: public medical care, public schools, documents or
permits, household services, the police or the courts. The results exclude those who say that they
did not come into contact with any of these services in the past 12 months.

30 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
 Green Less than 10% paid a bribe
Amber From 10% up to 30% paid a bribe
Red 30% or more paid a bribe

5. Ordinary people make a difference

The results are based on the percentage of people who either Strongly agree or Agree with the
statement Ordinary people can make a difference in the fight against corruption.

Green 60% or more strongly agree or agree

Amber From 40% up to 60% strongly agree or agree
Red Less than 40% strongly agree or agree

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 31

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
QUESTIONNAIRE
Q1. How many of the following people do you think are involved in corruption, or havent you
heard enough about them to say?

A The president and officials in his office

B Members of parliament
C Government officials
D Local government councillors
E Police
F Tax officials, like ministry of finance officials or local government tax collectors
G Judges and magistrates
H Traditional leaders
I Religious leaders
J Business executives

None
Some of them
Most of them
All of them
Don't know/ Havent heard [Do not read]

Q2. In your opinion, over the past year, has the level of corruption in this country increased,
decreased, or stayed the same?

1 Increased a lot
2 Increased somewhat
3 Stayed the same
4 Decreased somewhat
5 Decreased a lot
6 Dont know [Do not read]

Q3. A. Now I would like to talk to you about experiences that some people have in accessing
certain essential government services. In the past 12 months have you

A Had contact with a public school? How easy or difficult was it to obtain the services you needed
from teachers or school officials?
B Had contact with a public clinic or hospital? How easy or difficult was it to obtain the medical
care you needed?
C Tried to get an identity document like a birth certificate, drivers license, passport or voters card,
or a permit, from government? How easy or difficult was it to obtain the document you needed?
D Tried to get water, sanitation or electric services from government? How easy or difficult was it
to obtain the services you needed?
E Requested assistance from the police? How easy or difficult was it to obtain the assistance you
needed?
F Had contact with the courts? How easy or difficult was it to obtain the assistance you needed
from the courts?

32 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
 No contact
Very easy
Easy
Difficult
Very Difficult
Don't Know [Do not read]

Q4. If they had contact [Q3 A - F] And how often, if ever, did you have to pay a bribe, give a gift, or
do a favour for

A A teacher or school official in order to get the services you needed from the schools?
B A health worker or clinic or hospital staff in order to get the medical care you needed?
C A government official in order to get the document you needed?
D A government official in order to get the services you needed?
E A police officer in order to get the assistance you needed, or to avoid a problem like passing a
checkpoint or avoiding a fine or arrest?
F A judge or court official in order to get the assistance you needed from the courts?

No contact
Never
Once or twice
A few times
Often
Don't Know [Do not read]

Q5. If you ever paid a bribe for any of the services discussed above, did you report any of the
incidents you mentioned to a government official or someone in authority?

1 No
2 Yes
3 Not Applicable [i.e., Respondent answered No bribes paid, dont know or no contact to all parts
of Q4] [Do not read]
4 Dont know [Do not read]

Q6. Some people say that incidents of corruption are never reported. Based on your
experiences, what do you think is the main reason why many people do not report corruption
when it occurs?

1 Most people do report incidents of corruption

2 People dont have enough time to report it
3 People dont know where to report it
4 People dont know how to report it
5 Nothing will be done / it wouldnt make a difference
6 Its too expensive to report
7 Corruption is normal / Everyone does it
8 People are afraid of the consequences
9 The officials where they would report to are also corrupt
10 Its the governments money, not the peoples so its not our problem
11 Other
12 Dont know

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 33

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
Q7. How well or badly would you say the current government is handling the following matters,
or havent you heard enough to say? Fighting corruption in government?

1 Very badly
2 Fairly badly
3 Fairly well
4 Very well
5 Dont know/ havent heard enough [Do not read]

Q8. Please tell me whether you agree or disagree with the following statement: ordinary people
can make a difference in the fight against corruption?

1 Strongly disagree
2 Disagree
3 Neither agree nor disagree [Do not read]
4 Agree
5 Strongly agree
6 Dont know [Do not read]

Q9. What is the most effective thing that an ordinary person like you can do the help combat
corruption in this country?

1 Nothing/Ordinary people cannot do anything

2 Refuse to pay bribes
3 Report corruption when you see or experience it
4 Vote for clean candidates or parties or for parties that promise to fight corruption
5 Speak out about the problem, for example, by calling a radio program or writing a letter
6 Talk to friends and relatives about the problem
7 Sign a petition asking for a stronger fight against corruption
8 Join or support an organisation that is fighting corruption
9 Participate in protest marches or demonstrations against corruption
10 Other
11 Dont know

34 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
FULL DATA TABLES
Table 1 Perceptions of corruption by institution, proportion that think most or all are
corrupt (%)

Q. How many of the following people do you think are involved in corruption, or havent you
heard enough about them to say? % who say Most or All are corrupt.

Base. All respondents excluding missing responses.

PRESIDENT/PRIME

PUBLIC SECTOR
TAX OFFICIALS
COUNCILLORS

MAGISTRATES
GOVERNMENT

TRADITIONAL
MEMBERS OF
PARLIAMENT

JUDGES AND

EXECUTIVES
RELIGIOUS
OFFICIALS

BUSINESS
COUNTRY

AVERAGE
LEADERS

LEADERS
MINISTER

POLICE
LOCAL

REGIONAL
31 33 38 33 47 37 34 21 15 42 33
AVERAGE
Benin 51 46 54 48 54 52 48 26 20 64 50

Botswana 20 25 29 22 34 17 14 13 16 35 23

Burkina Faso 27 30 32 28 28 38 34 11 9 57 31

Burundi 16 14 21 19 41 35 40 22 4 19 27

Cameroon 34 35 45 36 55 55 51 27 18 52 44
not
Cape Verde 12 13 15 15 19 15 9 6 19 14
asked
Cote dIvoire 24 24 29 31 49 37 35 10 8 53 33

Ghana 47 48 53 43 64 51 49 37 25 44 51

Guinea 32 24 32 24 38 43 38 13 8 34 33

Kenya 27 45 46 36 75 34 33 12 13 38 42

Lesotho 17 19 28 20 38 19 16 16 5 30 22

Liberia 63 68 70 55 77 68 56 41 33 61 65

Madagascar 28 35 35 13 49 35 49 3 4 32 35
not
Malawi 43 27 35 39 27 22 30 15 35 32
asked

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 35

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
 Mali 35 36 43 44 53 46 56 13 13 70 45
not
Mauritius 16 19 16 15 22 13 9 11 22 16
asked
Namibia 17 20 37 26 40 35 28 22 19 45 29

Niger 22 24 23 29 27 27 23 21 13 46 25

Nigeria 54 61 63 58 72 56 45 36 28 45 58

Senegal 22 24 24 24 31 22 24 8 7 38 24

Sierra Leone 48 50 55 49 59 49 47 35 25 53 51

South Africa 46 46 49 48 48 23 23 19 20 38 40

Swaziland 29 36 45 25 42 26 27 22 20 54 33

Tanzania 15 21 25 25 50 37 36 13 10 31 30

Togo 37 35 39 37 44 49 48 35 17 58 41

Uganda 29 36 48 39 63 48 45 12 9 40 44

Zambia 27 34 32 33 51 31 30 21 16 32 34

Zimbabwe 30 38 41 42 58 46 29 22 19 39 41

Table 2 Change in corruption level over the past year (%)

Q. In your opinion, over the past year, has the level of corruption in this country increased,
decreased, or stayed the same?

Base. All respondents excluding those with missing responses.

DONT
STAYED
INCREASED INCREASED DECREASED DECREASED KNOW // TOTAL TOTAL
COUNTRY THE
A LOT A LITTLE A LITTLE A LOT NO INCREASE DECREASE
SAME
ANSWER
Benin 46 29 7 13 4 2 74 17

Botswana 30 21 14 19 4 11 51 24
Burkina
12 17 18 36 12 5 28 48
Faso
Burundi 47 13 8 19 7 5 61 26

Cameroon 30 14 17 25 5 8 44 31

36 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
 Cape Verde 27 22 20 11 2 18 49 14
Cote
20 11 20 28 17 3 32 46
dIvoire
Ghana 64 12 9 6 2 8 76 8

Guinea 29 9 14 23 19 7 38 42

Kenya 41 23 14 15 2 4 64 18

Lesotho 44 14 13 16 9 4 57 26

Liberia 54 19 19 6 1 2 73 6

Madagascar 34 39 14 10 1 1 73 12

Malawi 62 9 9 9 5 5 72 14

Mali 16 14 18 36 14 1 31 50

Mauritius 33 36 21 6 1 3 69 7

Namibia 38 25 18 14 4 1 63 18

Niger 23 21 14 25 7 10 44 32

Nigeria 50 26 16 7 1 1 75 8

Senegal 22 12 14 28 15 9 34 43
Sierra
58 12 10 4 2 15 70 5
Leone
South Africa 64 19 10 4 2 1 83 6

Swaziland 39 27 13 13 1 7 66 14

Tanzania 38 28 15 10 3 6 66 13

Togo 26 13 15 29 6 11 39 35

Uganda 52 18 9 14 2 5 69 16

Zambia 43 12 16 18 6 5 55 24

Zimbabwe 48 20 15 9 2 6 68 11

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 37

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
Table 3. Bribery Rates

Q. How often, if ever, did you have to pay a bribe, give a gift, or do a favour for: A. Public schools; B.
Public health services; C. Identity documents; D. Utility services; E. The police; F. The courts. %
who had paid a bribe at least once or twice to any of the services.

Base. Excluding those who have not had contact with any of the six public services in the past 12
months and excluding those who have missing data for all six bribery questions.

COUNTRY BRIBERY RATE (%) COUNTRY BRIBERY RATE (%)

REGIONAL
22 Namibia 7
AVERAGE
Benin 26 Niger 10

Botswana 1 Nigeria 43

Burkina Faso 11 Senegal 8

Burundi 14 Sierra Leone 41

Cameroon 48 South Africa 7

Cape Verde 2 Swaziland 9

Cote dIvoire 34 Tanzania 25

Ghana 36 Togo 26

Guinea 35 Uganda 38

Kenya 37 Zambia 17

Lesotho 5 Zimbabwe 22

Liberia 69

Madagascar 16

Malawi 13

Mali 18

Mauritius 1

38 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
Table 4 Contact rates per service (%)

Q. In the past 12 months have you had contact with A. Public schools; B. Public health services;
C. Identity documents; D. Utility services; E. The police; F. The courts. % who had come into contact
with each service.

Base. All respondents excluding those with missing responses.

PUBLIC PUBLIC ID, VOTERS

COUNTRY UTILITIES POLICE COURTS
SCHOOL HOSPITAL CARD, PERMIT

Benin 48 57 44 16 11 7

Botswana 41 81 66 39 46 10

Burkina Faso 41 61 39 13 8 4

Burundi 32 68 33 6 11 13

Cameroon 55 66 54 35 29 21

Cape Verde 32 63 37 27 15 11

Cote dIvoire 36 46 39 15 9 7

Ghana 28 41 19 16 12 4

Guinea 36 53 24 11 6 4

Kenya 58 73 52 20 29 7

Lesotho 25 53 40 14 22 9

Liberia 63 73 59 46 60 44

Madagascar 42 37 51 10 8 5

Malawi 29 68 82 19 15 5

Mali 29 59 40 9 7 4

Mauritius 32 73 78 12 12 7

Namibia 51 77 66 26 43 9

Niger 46 66 35 16 10 5

Nigeria 62 69 64 62 43 31

Senegal 44 60 39 22 12 9

Sierra Leone 53 57 31 16 23 11

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 39

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
 South Africa 37 58 39 27 34 10

Swaziland 34 66 46 17 24 5

Tanzania 49 71 20 15 18 12

Togo 35 46 33 15 7 7

Uganda 51 74 60 25 32 11

Zambia 41 80 23 17 26 11

Zimbabwe 42 60 44 12 24 7

Table 5 Bribery rates by service (%)

Q. How often, if ever, did you have to pay a bribe, give a gift, or do a favour for: A. Public schools; B.
Public health services; C. Identity documents; D. Utility services; E. The police; F. The courts. % of
those who had come into contact with the service and had paid a bribe at least once or twice for
each service.

Base. Excluding those who have not had contact with the service in the past 12 months and
excluding those with missing responses.

PUBLIC PUBLIC ID, VOTERS

COUNTRY UTILITIES POLICE COURTS
SCHOOL HOSPITAL CARD, PERMIT

Benin 9 13 26 20 18 19

Botswana 1 0 0 0 1 0

Burkina Faso 9 4 9 5 8 *

Burundi 11 2 11 9 28 23

Cameroon 32 31 34 34 34 32

Cape Verde 2 1 1 1 0 2

Cote dIvoire 17 18 29 13 26 24

Ghana 24 17 38 35 58 *

Guinea 24 25 34 26 37 *

Kenya 9 11 39 20 49 42

Lesotho 2 2 3 4 2 3

Liberia 45 52 59 56 60 52

40 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
 Madagascar 6 9 12 7 24 *

Malawi 12 6 3 11 28 *

Mali 7 8 22 10 35 *

Mauritius 0 0 0 2 5 1

Namibia 3 2 5 3 2 1

Niger 4 5 9 2 16 16

Nigeria 25 24 32 35 45 40

Senegal 3 3 8 4 5 4

Sierra Leone 20 25 37 40 64 65

South Africa 2 2 6 6 3 5

Swaziland 4 1 12 3 3 5

Tanzania 11 20 15 22 35 35

Togo 10 11 27 22 28 22

Uganda 19 25 15 19 41 44

Zambia 12 4 17 8 23 14

Zimbabwe 7 5 25 10 23 20

Table 6 Handling fighting corruption in government (%)

Q. How well or badly would you say the current government is handling the following matters,
or havent you heard enough to say? Fighting corruption in government?

Base. All respondents excluding missing responses.

DONT
VERY FAIRLY FAIRLY VERY TOTAL TOTAL
COUNTRY KNOW / NO
BADLY BADLY WELL WELL BADLY WELL
ANSWER
Benin 40 39 18 1 2 79 19

Botswana 14 28 46 8 4 42 54

Burkina Faso 20 29 32 13 5 49 45

Burundi 35 32 20 9 3 68 29

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 41

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
 Cameroon 24 33 29 8 6 57 37

Cape Verde 19 42 21 1 17 61 23

Cote dIvoire 23 30 35 9 3 53 44

Ghana 50 21 20 4 4 71 25

Guinea 36 25 23 9 6 61 33

Kenya 43 27 24 4 3 70 27

Lesotho 32 9 25 22 12 41 47

Liberia 59 22 13 5 2 81 18

Madagascar 42 48 8 1 1 90 9

Malawi 56 13 19 8 3 69 28

Mali 24 32 35 8 1 56 43

Mauritius 29 43 23 2 4 71 25

Namibia 32 33 28 6 0 65 34

Niger 16 30 33 12 8 47 46

Nigeria 45 32 18 3 1 78 22

Senegal 18 28 38 8 7 46 47

Sierra Leone 52 16 14 5 13 69 19

South Africa 56 23 16 5 1 79 20

Swaziland 17 31 41 7 4 48 48

Tanzania 27 31 34 3 5 58 37

Togo 39 22 25 6 8 61 31

Uganda 41 28 22 4 5 69 26

Zambia 40 23 25 7 6 62 32

Zimbabwe 54 26 15 2 3 80 17

42 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
Table 7 ordinary people can do something against corruption (%)

Q. Please tell me whether you agree or disagree with the following statement: ordinary people
can make a difference in the fight against corruption?

Base. All respondents excluding missing responses.

AGREE NOR
STRONGLY

STRONGLY

KNOW / NO
DISAGREE

DISAGREE

DISAGREE

DISAGREE
ANSWER
NEITHER
AGREE

AGREE

AGREE
TOTAL

TOTAL
DONT
Benin 12 30 5 25 25 3 42 49

Botswana 34 38 5 10 10 3 72 20

Burkina Faso 18 43 4 16 16 3 61 31

Burundi 32 22 1 13 30 1 54 44

Cameroon 23 33 5 16 19 5 56 35

Cape Verde 20 35 3 23 11 8 55 34

Cote dIvoire 15 39 4 22 16 3 55 38

Ghana 27 27 6 13 23 4 53 36

Guinea 18 28 1 12 34 6 46 46

Kenya 31 26 6 11 23 2 58 35

Lesotho 38 21 2 7 29 2 60 36

Liberia 17 26 7 21 25 4 43 45

Madagascar 24 46 8 13 8 0 70 21

Malawi 49 16 2 8 24 2 64 32

Mali 16 34 2 23 25 0 50 48

Mauritius 10 46 7 24 10 3 56 34

Namibia 33 36 6 16 8 1 69 24

Niger 22 21 5 22 28 3 42 50

Nigeria 12 27 14 22 23 2 39 45

Senegal 21 29 3 15 28 5 49 43

PEOPLE AND CORRUPTION: AFRICA SURVEY 2015 43

GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER
 Sierra Leone 17 15 7 12 33 16 32 44

South Africa 24 33 13 16 13 3 56 29

Swaziland 19 41 4 15 20 2 59 35

Tanzania 19 36 9 18 15 3 55 33

Togo 17 37 3 21 21 2 53 42

Uganda 21 26 3 12 35 3 47 47

Zambia 24 29 5 15 23 5 53 38

Zimbabwe 19 23 6 14 36 2 42 50

44 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
END NOTES

i
The survey was conducted before the presidential election in Nigeria.
ii
Results are compared with previous rounds of Transparency Internationals GCB survey.
iii
Results are based on those who came into contact with at least one of six public services in the past 12 months.
iv
The Afrobarometer calculates poverty using their Lived Poverty Index (LPI), an experiential measure that consists of
a series of survey questions that measure how frequently people actually go without basic necessities during the
course of a year. The Afrobarometer asks respondents: over the past year, how often, if ever, have you or your family
gone without enough: food to eat; clean water for home use; medicines or medical treatment; enough fuel to cook your
food; a cash income? The results presented in this report use the Lived Poverty categories, ranging from no lived
poverty to high lived poverty. The results are based only on those who have come into contact with at least one public
service in the past 12 months.
v
For more information, see: http://www.ti-defence.org/publications/dsp-pubs/223-dsp-pubs-arresting-corruption-
police.html.
vi
The survey was conducted before the presidential elections.
vii
Republic of Senegal (2013) Dcret n2013-1282. http://www.gouv.sn/Decret-no2013-1282-du-23-septembre.html
viii
Republic of Senegal (2013) Conseil des Ministres. http://www.gouv.sn/Conseil-des-Ministres-du-11,1449.html
ix
Centif (2014) LOI relative a la declaration de partimoine. http://www.centif.sn/Loi_2014_17.pdf
x
BBC (2015) Senegal's Karim Wade jailed for corruption. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32020574
xi
Freedom House (2015) Madagascar, https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2015/madagascar.
xii
European Commission (2014) Anti-Corruption Report, http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-
do/policies/organized-crime-and-human-trafficking/corruption/anti-corruption-report/index_en.htm and LAPOP (2012)
http://vanderbilt.edu/lapop/raw-data.php
xiii
BBC (2015) Ebola: Mapping the outbreak, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28755033.
xiv
Dupuy, K. Divijak, B. (2015) Ebola and corruption: Overcoming critical governance challenges in a crisis situation.
U4 Brief March 2015:4.
xv
Jerving, S. (2014) Why Liberians Thought Ebola Was a Government Scam to Attract Western Aid, The Nation,
http://www.thenation.com/article/why-liberians-thought-ebola-was-government-scam-attract-western-aid/ and Mukpo,
A. (2014) The biggest concern of the Ebola outbreak is political, not medical, Al Jazeera,
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/8/ebola-virus-liberiasierraleonepolitics.html.
xvi
Transparency International (2014) African Voices Against Corruption Madagascar, http://www.voix-contre-la-
corruption.org/en/#/quand-la-corruption-rase-la-foret.

46 TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
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